COVENTRY Building Society is setting an example to other local businesses by being the first organisation to promise support for the Coventry Hospice Appeal....

COVENTRY Building Society is setting an example to other local businesses by being the first organisation to promise support for the Coventry Hospice Appeal.

It has donated #1,000 to kick start the #5 million appeal which aims to build a 20-bed in-patient hospice on the Walsgrave Hospital site.

Myton Hamlet Hospice, which now provides the only in-patient services for people in Coventry and Warwickshire, is behind the project in partnership with Coventry Health Authority.

Martin Ritchley, chief executive of Coventry Building Society, said: "When we read about the appeal in the Evening Telegraph we were inspired.

"A hospice is something we have needed in Coventry for a very long time and it is particularly appropriate that the project is being run by Myton Hamlet Hospice with its enormous experience.

"Our membership in the city is something like every two out of three households, so an appeal like this is something we as a company should be getting behind.

"We are very pleased to be the first organisation to make a donation."

The building society is also helping by acting as a collection point for donations.

John Dixon, a Coventry businessman who has been campaigning for years to get a hospice for the city and is a major figure in the appeal, said: "This is a brilliant start. I hope the donation proves to be an inspiration and that the money keeps on rolling in."